Mercury-vapor outfit and circuits therefor.



P. H. THOMAS.

MEROURY'VAPOR OUTFIT AND CIRCUITS THEREFOR. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30, 1905.

3 SHEETS-$HBET 1.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914;.

P. H. THOMAS. MERCURY VAPOR OUTFIT AND CIRCUITS THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30,1905. 1,1 10,586.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 8.

P. H. THOMAS.

MERCURY VAPOR OUTFIT AND GIRGUITSTHEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILE-D MAR.30,1905.

3 SHEETS SHEE-T 3.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

UNIT STATES PATENT OFFICE.

rEncy H. nomas, or mon'rcnnm, NEW -JEnsEY,-Ass1e1-ron, BY m sNE assren MENTS, To coorEE HEWITT ELECTRIC com an or HOIBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, A

conronarron oEnEw 'JEnsEY.

, MERCURY-VAPOR OUTFIT, AND omciJITs THEREFOR.

Specification of Letters Patent. 1 1 Patented Sept. 15, 19 14: Application filed March so, 1905. I

Serial No. 252,797;

T all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, PERCY H. THoMAs, a citizen of the United States,-and resident of Montcl'air, county-of Essex, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mercury-Vapor Outfits and Circuits Therefor, of which the followirigis a specification.

This invention is concerned with the. construction and organization of va or converters, a system of circuits suite for use with sucl converters, 'and regulating devices for the circuits."

In the drawings which illustratethe invention I have shown in considerable detail a convenient va or converter outfit c ombined with switchoards, ammeters, voltmeters and other devices suitable for connection with such an apparatus. 1. have also illustrated an appropriate system of circuits and also the arrangement of the regu-- latingdevice above mentioned.

1n the drawings,-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a vapor converter outfit taken from a point'atthe rearof the supporting frame; Fig. 2 is a perspective taken from a point in front of the said frame; and Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are circuit diagramsl Referring to the'barlier figures of the drawing, it will be seen that the entire vapor apparatus is supported upon a horizontal frame, 1, having suitable legs orstandards, 2, 2. At. the forward end of the frame 1 are angular uprights, 3, 3, to which is see cured by bolts or other suitable means, a plate, 4, of glass, porcelain, slate or other insulating material. The frame 1 itself is preferablv formed of angular metal and'the lower ends of theuprights 3 are secured to the vertical portion of the said frame. At the same time the upper ends of the uprights are braced .by a cross-piece, 5, as

shown, At the rear of he frame 1 an insulating switch-board, 6, is secured to uprights 7, 7 these parts themselves being bolted to the frame. The board 6 carries binding posts for making such connections as may beconvenient. in wiring up the conoperatmg parts;

frame 1 are braces, 8, 8, for giving'strength and rigidity to the structure.

Underneath the frame 1 an inductance device, 9, is suspended by any suitable means; and-above the frame is mounted atilting magnet 10, the operation of which will .be described hereinafter. A cut-out magnet, 51, is also -place above the frame.

A vapor converter 11 .18 also mounted above the frame, the immed ate means of support being a ho-rizontai' cross-piece, 13, uprights,

12, 12 and a ring, 14, supported in a nor- F mally. horizontal position by the said uprights. The upper part of" the converter is held in position byan-adjustable strap, 15, theends of which pass through lugs, 16,. 16, on the ring 14 and are secured by nuts? To the ring 14 is secured a lever, 17 carrying knife edges, one of which is shown at 18. These knife edges fit in saw-tooth notches in the tops' of the uprights, 12, one (if said notches appearing at'19. The faces of the notches constitute limiting surfaces .for the movement otXthe knife edges, thereby limiting the tilting of the converten-asa whole. To the lever 17 is pivoted an eX- tension, 20, of thecore, 21, of the tilting magnet 10. When the said magnet is ener: gized it'draws in the core 21 and tilts the converter through a certain distance as will be explained further on in this specification. The converter contains two solid electrodes, 22 and 23, and a mercury electrode, 24, which is the common negative electrode of the apparatus. -A supplemental electrode, 25, is also present, being contained in a separate pockgt, 26, and serving initially. as atemporary negative. electrode. and afterward as a ,positive electrode forthe device. The arrangement of these electrodesmay be seen by reference to Fig. 3. I I I prefer to locate the electrodes 22'and 23 inside shields 50, 50,- of insulating material, said shields being closed at the bottom and open-at the sides which are remote mg handle, 32, outside the switchboard 4. F

' throw a transformer (not former and 2) into or out of connection with a primary .source of alternating 7 current.

The diagram appearing in Figs. 3 and 4' illustrates the circuits applied to the apparatus already described. Here theswitch ary of which isshown at 40. Between'the 36 is represented. as controlling the circuit from the wires 37-and'38 leading to a source of. alternating current on its .way to the primary, '39, ofa transformer, the secondswitch .36 and the primary of the transformer ,I locate" the coil, 28, already described. Ali-auto transformer may replace the transformer shown. The switch- 35' controls the circuit extend ing from an intermediate'point oftthe-secondary 40 to one side of the load and passing from the other side of the load or work circuit to the main negative electrode 24 of the vapor converter 11. The load in this instance is represented as a storage battery 41 which is to becharged by the-a ternatin source after the current has-been rectifie by passing through the converter 11. Be-

7 tween the storage battery and the electrode 24'a11' inductance, 42, is located and also the cut-out [extends a agnet, 51, 'whichis'adapted, when fully energ1zed, toopen acut-out, 44, as shown.

From thestationary., terminal of the said conductor, 45, which ineludes the coil of the tilting magnet 10 and alsof inc'ludes a resistance, 46. From the other side of thfefloador work circuit a conductor, 47, is branched ofi' to the electrode 4 26 a resistance, 48, being'included in said branchjlconductor.

The first actionsetting the converter into "operation consists in closing the switch, 35,

- thereby throwing in the storage battery 41. Aicircuit is thusformed through the branch,

.47, the'resistances, 48 and.'46, the magnet coil, 10, th'fizut-out, 44 and the cut-out magnet 51. 'Owing tothe presence of the various resistances named, the magnet 51 does .not act to operatethe cut-out but the-curpacket 25.

' rent in the described'eircuit' does actuate the magnet IOj and tilt, the converter 11 sufiiciently to br' g thefmercury of the electrode 24' into contact with the mercury, in the ereup'on a circuit is formed thrjiugh the magnet 51 the inductance 42 the contacting electrodes 24 and 25, therresistance and the conductor 47, thusshortclrcu'l tlng the magnet coil 10 and allowing the converter '11. to tilt back to its original position, separating the electrodes 24 and 25,; thus making the mercury at 24 a positive electrode with respect'to the mercury in the tive electrodes.

pocket 26. The alternating current having been thrown on by the closure of the switch 36, current mayfiow' through the converter '11 from the electrodes 22 and 23 respectively, to the temporary negative. electrode 25 and back to the middle point of the transformer secondary 40 through the several branches one'of which is constituted by the conductor 47 and the resistance 48 and the other of which is constituted by the resistance 46, the magnets 10 and 51 and the battery 41. This currentr should be strong enough to energize the magnet 10 suiiiciently to tilt the converter 11 until contact again made between the electrodes 24 and 25, when the current from the positiveelectrodes 22 and 23 after entering the temporary negative electrode 25 wil the electrode 24 and the coil 42 and then as 'beijore, the other portion through the electrode 25 and the resistance 48 and conductor 47 as before or through the branch 46, 10, 45, 44, as ,,before; I the electrodes 24 and 25 by this second tilting of the converter 11 largely shunts the current -from the magnet 10 allowing the converter to tilt back a second time to its originalpositiori again separating the elec trod'es 24 and 25. This second separation causes the electrode 24 to be a negative electrode as well as the electrode 25, whereupon the positive electrodes 22 and 23 feed both the electrode 24 and the electrode 25 as negaof the magnet 51 on the cut-out 44. It is found in ractice that the action of the magnet cm? 10 is often such as to cause a double connection and disconnection be-' tween the electrodes 24 and 25 witha sin le tilt-of the converter 11 which is the desira 1e adjustment. In suchcases a second tilting of the apparatus is not necessary and cannot occur on accoui t of the opening of the cut-out 44 by the the ma et 51. he cutout 44 might be 1nserted 1n the conductor 47 instead of in the conductor 45, as shown in Fig. 5, in which divide into two parts, the major portion passing through The connection between Thereafter the electrode 25' .will be cut out of circuit by the operation assage of current throu h figure the cut-out 60 is located in the conductor 47an'd corresponds to the cut-out 44 or a cut-out mi ht be employed in both circuits. In the arrangement shown the cutout in the circuit 47 is omitted since current will not be maintained trode 25, due to the fact that there is no inductance in its circuit. The device shown in the negative elec- 7 at 62 is a counter-weight acting against the weight of the core 21 and its connected parts.

The ring 14 is made up of two or more relatively adjustable parts shown at 63 and 64. By means of this relative adjustability the ring as a whole maybe adapted to con-- verters of different sizes and furthermore 7- location of the center of gravity depends upon the'relative weight, form and location of the container and the mercury of the electrode and parts rigidly connected thereto, by adjusting the height of the container e of relative position of the parts 63 and 64, the position of the container, mercury and attached parts canbe raised or lowereduntil the center of gravity is at the desired point. This adjustment is readily made in view of the fact as shown in the drawing sively'increasing diameters in the neighborhood of its line of support.

In the induction regulator shown advantage is taken to obtain a wide range of adjustability of the greater efliciency or the air gap introduced in the magnetic: ,01rcuit through the coil of the regulator when placed within the center of the coil. It will be understood that the order of closure of the switches and 36 is not necessarily that i described herein, but both switches may be thrown on simultaneously or the alternating current switch may be thrown on first. If the first tilting and self-restoring operation does not act to make the electrode 24 the true negative electrode of the device, the deelectrode, and means ratchet disks, 61, 61,

i or movingthe handle scribed operation may be repeated as many By adjusting dium of. the handle 32, the apparatus may be so regulated as to pass currents ranging in value between wide limits. For example, I have in this way utilized the same vapor converter for transmitting currents" running from 6 amperes to 30 amperes.

It will be noted that the handle .32 is provided with a pawl, 60, engaging with to retain the lever 30 in the position to which it is moved through the action of a spring (not'shown). The

awl itself maybe readily released by hand to a new position.

I claim as my inventiong g I 1. In a vapor converter, a plurality' of positive electrodes, a man negative ,electrode, a supplemental electrode, and means for making he said supplemental electrode temporarily negative with respect to the ,main negative electrode.

.. 2. In a vapor converter, a plurality of positive electrodes, a main' negative electrode, a supplemental electrode, means for making the said supplemental electrode negative with respect to the-main negative for afterward-shifting the converter, so as to make the said supplemental electrode -positive with respect to the mainnegative electrode.

For since the j that the bulb has progres to support I 3. The combination with a vapor converter provided with a plurality of positive electrodes, a main negative electrode and a supplemental electrode, of a coil for tilting the converter to bring the main negative electrode into temporary contact with the supplemental electrode, cated in-shunt to the short circuit temporarily formed by the said contact whereby the coil is deenergized .during the continuance of said short circuit.

4. In a vapor converter, electrodes, and means for causing a temporary connection between the electrodes and subsequently a separation thereof, such means consisting of a tilting magnet and connections whereby said magnet is dene'rgized during the continuance of said short circuit.

. 5. In a vapor electric apparatus, main electrodes, and a supplemental electrode,

means for making the said supplemental electrode temporarily a negative electrode, such means including a tilting magnet traversed by current through the supplemental electrode,'the said tilting magnet acting as an inductance in the said circuit.

6. In a vapor electric apparatus, main electrode and a supplemental electrode acting temporarilyas a negative electrode, in combination with an inductance traversed by current through the supplemental electrode together with connections for the main electrodes and starting connections including the said supplementary electrode and the said inductance.

7. A standard support for a number of equivalent vapor devices having progressively increasing diameters in the neighborhood of the line of support, said devices containing mercury in varying quantities, said support being adjustable to bear weight thev vapor device on different horizontal planes, thus compensating for the varying quantities of mercury.

8. In a vapor electric apparatus, a main and a supplemental negative electrode, an inductance traversed by current through the supplemental electrode, a translating device having a counter electronotive-force adapted to pass current to said negative electrode temporarily.

9. The combination of a vapor electric apparatus having a plurality of electrodes, a source of alternating current for supplying energy to said apparatus, an electromotor device for tilting said apparatus, and means actuated by the tilting of said apparatus for short-circuiting said electro-motor device while the tube is tilted.

10. The combination of a vapor electric apparatus having a plurality of electrodes,

such coil being loin combination with said apparatus to its initial position.

11. The combination of a vapor electric apparatus having a plurality of electrodes,

at source of alternating current for supplying energy to said electrodes, tor device'for tilting said apparatus to establish-a metallic connection between tWo of said' electrodes said connection forming a short-circuit for said electro-moton device, and means .for permitting the return of said apparatus to its initial position.

12.. The combination of an evacuated tube, a plurality of anodes anda cathode therein,

an electro'motor device for tilting said tube,

and a contact member for cooperating with said cathode to short circuit said electromotor device.

an electro-mol 13. The combination'of a source ofi cur rent, a vapor electric apparatus connected thereto, said apparatushaving a cathode and a cooperating" anode, an electro-motor device operative to tilt said apparatus until said electrodes come into contact, and current conductors for said device connected to said source in common with the electrodes, whereby said device is denergized by con-- tact of the electrodes.

' Signed at New York,- in the county l'lof t is" W M. ,H. CAPEL, Gno. H. STQQKBRIDGE, 

